Thursday, September 06, 2007
Artificial Ingredients; Sex
A study published in the Lancet suggests that the common food preservative, sodium benzoate, may be causing or exacerbating kids hyperactivity. That this kind of chemical has harmful effects should surprise no one, but they do highlight how important it is to watch what your kids (and you, since it's likely to have some effect in adults too) eat.
Diacetyl, another problematic food additive which has spawned numerous lawsuits, also still remains on the market. Previously, it was thought only to be dangerous to people working in manufacture (thus the whole remaining on the market bit...don't you miss effective labor unions?), but now doctors report a case of a consumer with bronchiolitis obliterans. He really liked microwave popcorn, and would inhale its delicious fumes a few times a day. Now he has a fatal lung disease. There's a lesson here, somewhere.
A chemical that people take more intentionally is Viagra; recreational use of the drug is as prominent as on-label treatment. Now it seems that this may come with a hilariously ironic side effect: all that rampant sex seems to carry with it the thing playing men fear most - LOVE! It appears that Viagra (and similar drugs) increase oxytocin, known for its role in social bonding. This makes me very happy.
And finally, speaking of love and sex, why are we gays fighting so hard to get married again? Live-in boyfriends do more housework than husbands. Another reason not to fully commit!!
Diacetyl, another problematic food additive which has spawned numerous lawsuits, also still remains on the market. Previously, it was thought only to be dangerous to people working in manufacture (thus the whole remaining on the market bit...don't you miss effective labor unions?), but now doctors report a case of a consumer with bronchiolitis obliterans. He really liked microwave popcorn, and would inhale its delicious fumes a few times a day. Now he has a fatal lung disease. There's a lesson here, somewhere.
A chemical that people take more intentionally is Viagra; recreational use of the drug is as prominent as on-label treatment. Now it seems that this may come with a hilariously ironic side effect: all that rampant sex seems to carry with it the thing playing men fear most - LOVE! It appears that Viagra (and similar drugs) increase oxytocin, known for its role in social bonding. This makes me very happy.
And finally, speaking of love and sex, why are we gays fighting so hard to get married again? Live-in boyfriends do more housework than husbands. Another reason not to fully commit!!
Labels: additives, ADHD, artifical ingredients, drugs, food, gay marriage, health, kids, oxytocin, science, sex, Viagra
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Booze, Sex, and Trite Shite
Salon has an astoundingly wordy article up about use of an extinct fennel by ancient Mediterranean cultures as an aphrodisiac and contraceptive. The short version: the ancient herb, silphium, was a source of great wealth to the few who controlled its wild harvest (the stuff didn't take to cultivation), and was, unsurprisingly, made soon extinct by over consumption. Cool!
Speaking of having sex without consequences, Minnesota researchers found that teen sex doesn't lead to more mental health problems, except in the youngest teens and even then only in those whose relationships dissolve soon thereafter. I feel like there's a cultural aspect to this which could be hiding here: if younger teens less are likely to get good support from their parents/friends because of taboos, wouldn't that explain increased emotional distress?
And on the topic of people we probably don't need to encourage to be any sluttier, an Argentine group found that Viagra may be helpful in alleviating jet lag. This could mean easier and speedier recovery for flight attendants, among others.
Last on sex, UK researchers seem to have found that sexual orientation affects gender-stereotyped cognitive task performance - lesbians do navigation tasks more like straight men, and gay men do them more like straight women. They also found that age affects men and womens' performance regardless of orientation. Interesting, but I'm not sure I buy their web-based study design.
And now, booze. Besides helping you get laid, it's good for you! A huge meta-study found that having about 2 drinks per day lowers your risk of kidney cancer, and one could slow your mental decline into senile dementia. Bottoms up!
More than a few papers have been covering the hell out of last week's 13th Historical Clinicopathological Conference, where researchers described how Abraham Lincoln might well have survived his assassination if only he'd had the benefit of an extra 142 years of medical science. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I say. "still no cure for cancer."
Speaking of having sex without consequences, Minnesota researchers found that teen sex doesn't lead to more mental health problems, except in the youngest teens and even then only in those whose relationships dissolve soon thereafter. I feel like there's a cultural aspect to this which could be hiding here: if younger teens less are likely to get good support from their parents/friends because of taboos, wouldn't that explain increased emotional distress?
And on the topic of people we probably don't need to encourage to be any sluttier, an Argentine group found that Viagra may be helpful in alleviating jet lag. This could mean easier and speedier recovery for flight attendants, among others.
Last on sex, UK researchers seem to have found that sexual orientation affects gender-stereotyped cognitive task performance - lesbians do navigation tasks more like straight men, and gay men do them more like straight women. They also found that age affects men and womens' performance regardless of orientation. Interesting, but I'm not sure I buy their web-based study design.
And now, booze. Besides helping you get laid, it's good for you! A huge meta-study found that having about 2 drinks per day lowers your risk of kidney cancer, and one could slow your mental decline into senile dementia. Bottoms up!
More than a few papers have been covering the hell out of last week's 13th Historical Clinicopathological Conference, where researchers described how Abraham Lincoln might well have survived his assassination if only he'd had the benefit of an extra 142 years of medical science. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I say. "still no cure for cancer."
Labels: alcohol, booze, cognition, contraception, death, dementia, history, neuroscience, sex, sexuality, teenagers, travel, Viagra
Monday, December 11, 2006
More Birth and Death
The rise of large animal life has long baffled biologists; the so-called "Darwin's Dilemma" fuels not only scientific inquiry and curiosity, but also gets used by crazies as 'evidence' that evolution isn't real. The 'Dilemma' is this - that for billions of years, life on Earth was pretty simple (well, small anyways), but then suddenly all kinds of large animals started appearing, and it's unclear why.
Queen's College researchers looked at evidence of the atmospheric composition in past eras, and found that the sudden development of large animals happened as atmospheric oxygen levels were dramatically increasing. Oxygen is, of course, critical to sustaining life as we know it on Earth, and large quantities of it are necessary to sustain large animals: before there was much oxygen around, big animals wouldn't have survived, but once there was enough to support them, one can speculate that larger size began to hold many advantages.
In terms of more recent beginnings of life, the evidence strongly indicates that breastfeeding babies is the best thing to do for them. Despite this, about 60% of American women don't breastfeed even for the first six months of life, which is the base recommendation for health, and researchers wonder why. An Australian study found that women who take an epidural pain killer during labor are less likely to breastfeed their babies.
It's not clear whether the drug itself is responsible for the difference, or if it's just that women who go without are more likely to stick it out in terms of breastfeeding. My guess is that it's a bit of column A and a lot of column B, but then, I'm a cynic.
On the other end of gestation, it appears that anti-impotence drugs, which increase NO transmission, may actually help the body fight cancer. That's right: Viagra for cancer! Researchers found that the increased NO levels interfere with immune down-regulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), allowing the system to detect and kill cancers more effectively. Awesome!
Queen's College researchers looked at evidence of the atmospheric composition in past eras, and found that the sudden development of large animals happened as atmospheric oxygen levels were dramatically increasing. Oxygen is, of course, critical to sustaining life as we know it on Earth, and large quantities of it are necessary to sustain large animals: before there was much oxygen around, big animals wouldn't have survived, but once there was enough to support them, one can speculate that larger size began to hold many advantages.
In terms of more recent beginnings of life, the evidence strongly indicates that breastfeeding babies is the best thing to do for them. Despite this, about 60% of American women don't breastfeed even for the first six months of life, which is the base recommendation for health, and researchers wonder why. An Australian study found that women who take an epidural pain killer during labor are less likely to breastfeed their babies.
It's not clear whether the drug itself is responsible for the difference, or if it's just that women who go without are more likely to stick it out in terms of breastfeeding. My guess is that it's a bit of column A and a lot of column B, but then, I'm a cynic.
On the other end of gestation, it appears that anti-impotence drugs, which increase NO transmission, may actually help the body fight cancer. That's right: Viagra for cancer! Researchers found that the increased NO levels interfere with immune down-regulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), allowing the system to detect and kill cancers more effectively. Awesome!
Labels: atmosphere, birth, breastfeeding, cancer, Darwin, epidural, evolution, nature, NO, science, Viagra
